Medicing the Medic
On the edge of the acid wastes of Stanix, a black and purple Insectibeast is resting in the shade of a simple tent that's been built with red anti-rad cloth and a rebar post. Her optics flicker on and off as she takes deep tired breaths and her vents cycle hot, almost overheated air. Stretched out beside her with her head propped on the Decepticon's tail, Torque has been laid out straight and completely stripped of her paneling. The damaged medic still sports minor injuries - and a conspicuously missing chip from her spark casing - but her more serious ones have been healed in one form or another. Damaged fuel lines lie nearby in a pile, completely replaced along with other unsalvagable parts, and crushed struts are discoloured where they've been reshaped and annealed with heat. Circuitry has been similarly treated with more repairs than replacements - a paradigm alien to Cybertron's disposable culture but equally effective. Quietly creaking and skittering outside, a group of minicon roachbots work tirelessly to untangle and repair a mangled Vehicon ball and, looking deceptively harmless sitting in one corner, a small box glows softly with energon sweets, a decorative flower, and a card. The last thing Torque remembers is Motormaster taking his leave after unabashedly mutilating her. After that it's been nothing but darkness once she slipped into unconciousness, completely unaware of anything that's since happened to her. But once her leaking fuel lines have been repaired and she's been given enough time to naturally replenish some energon, the femme begins to stir with a weak groan as optics regain their amber glow, albeit dimmly. "What.. what happened.. Ngh!" Moving to sit up, a shot of pain through her body has her gritting her teeth while holding a hand to what wounds remain. "Where's Motormaster and that..." But she doesn't get to finish that question once optics find Overclock beside her, the femme bristling in surprise and instantly trying to scurry back. "W-What is this? What am I doing here?" Where 'here' is isn't clear, since she's inside a tent, but it can't be anywhere good if there's a Decepticon in here. But.. now that she looks down at herself she can see her wounds mostly fixed, though armor is missing, forcing her to look at Overclock with more.. skepticism. "Did.. you fix me?" The noise of Torque awakening rouses the Insectibeast beside her and Overclock's optics flicker once more before turning on fully. "Oh good you're awake," she appraises with relief before pausing to yawn, presenting the mechanic with a mouth full of teeth and a glowing, red-hot throat. "How are you feeling?" Torque stares for a good few, long moments after Overclock asks that, as if she can't believe this is happening. But eventually she regains her wits and glares at the beast, not moving an inch from the corner of the tent. "..Confused. Don't get me wrong, I'm grateful, but.. Why did you try to stop Motormaster? And why did you repair me?" Which Overclock did surprisingly well, Torque will admit. "Easy, I won't hurt you," the beastformer urges gently as she draws her pointed tail behind herself. Overclock remains laying where she is, not moving to stand or approach. She's also not in a direct line to the tent's open flap if the mechanic were to chance a run. "Then at least you're not in blinding pain," she assesses with a smile. It's not quite a true facial expression but her beast form is at least more articulated than the facemask of her root mode. "Do you think I should have let him have his way with you?" The Decepticon femme asks rhetorically. Torque appears.. somewhat relieved when she sees the beast doesn't go after her, but that doesn't mean she'll let her guard down anytime soon. At Overclock's question she frowns and looks away, unsure. "No, but.. these days there are so many Decepticons like him that I just thought..." Apparently she thought wrong. Perhaps this was one of the more honorable ones amongst Megatron's group. "..Thank you." She mutters quietly and looks back to Overclock. "I probably would've bled out and died if you didn't patch me up. ..Where's my armor, though?" She weakly looks around, fatigue starting to catch back up with her after her initial start. ...And she also eyes the gifts set to one side, a brow raising in response. "..What are those?"Jackpot lost that in a bet. Type "help" to get it out of hock. Overclock's hackles lift at the implication as her smile disappears, but the flash of emotion resolves itself into a steamy huff. "...Don't worry, it's just us here. You're armor's getting repaired too but it was lower priority. It's outside," she answers with a forced calm. Working face or not, the Insecticon seems bad at hiding her emotions. "Ignore them for now," she suggests. "They're 'gifts' from Motormaster - he insisted. They look harmless, but I can test them for poison if you're hungry. I tried to refill your energon myself but I didn't want to donate too much and risk rejection." More closely examining the beastformer, Torque might notice a cut above one paw that's been welded over and wasn't there before. Torque can say she's not the best at hiding her emotions either, already balling fists and clenching her jaw when told who the gifts are from. "That fragger.. Rgh!" Risidual pain still races through her legs when standing, but she ignores it and soldiers forward to snatch up the gifts and tear them apart, scattering the energon goodies across the floor of the tent along with crushed and ripped bits of the flower and card. Once the offending items are thoroughly destroyed she stands there, venting, before looking to Overclock and the wound on her paw. "...Is there something you want from me now that you've saved my life?" Torque is very thankful, but she's come to learn that not everyone is happy to help without compensation like she is. Overclock watches patiently until Torque finishes destroying Motormaster's gifts, then smiles again. "Feeling better? You're standing well at least." Curling her tail forwards, the pointed end fans slightly apart and hums with suction as it begins vacuuming up the mess into the Insecticon's interior. "I wouldn't mind at least knowing who I helped, but you can leave when you want. I won't stop you." The Insecticon giggles as she glances at the mechanic's bare frame. "Although you might want to let me help you rearmor first, Stanix isn't *that* liberal." Torque curiously watches the beast use her tail as a vacuum, finding it an intriguing ability. Wonder where it goes.. "..My name's Torque." She says softly, figuring it wouldn't hurt since she's on the registration list now. As for her armor, the medic nods and looks down at herself with thinly pressed lips. "Yeah, I.. guess it'd be best not to go walking around like this in the open.." Finally exhaustion begins to settle back over her and Torque is forced to take a knee by the opening of the tent with a grunt. Puffing softly to get her bearings back, she opens the front of the tent just enough to get a peek outside. "So we're in Stanix.. I heard there's lots of Insecticon and beast activity out here. Would explain why you brought me here." Though she does motion to the roaches. "..They're not gonna try to eat me, are they?" "They're the ones who fixed you," Overclock rebuts sharply as she stands and steps beside Torque while her tail continues vacuuming. "They were the closest medics I knew who could do the job, we met halfway. Unfortunately I don't know any real medicine. All I could do was seal the leaking fuel lines and carry you here," the Insecticon answers, her tone turning despondent as her ears droop. "I'm Overclock, by the way. Now come back in and rest. We can try to finish your repairs - or at least give you something to lay on while you convalesce." So only some of this was Overclock's work.. Well Torque is still impressed by the work. "..No, it's alright. Think I can manage." She smirks appreciatively to the hound beside her and grunts while pushing herself back to her feet, perhaps even using Overclock as a hand hold if she allows. Once up, Torque leaves the tent without hesitation, holding no shame in her lack of armor. Besides, the others already saw her without it when repairing her, and as a medic she's also grown used to seeing it. The edge of the acid wastes is what she comes upon once outside, spying the city of Stanix not far off. It's an interesting landscape, but one she doesn't linger on and instead slowly moves to her armor set nearby and begins to reconnect what she can reach. Though a little disgruntled now, Overclock came over for that very reason and her frame proves to be a sturdy support for the medic. The Insecticon follows at Torque's side in case she stumbles on the uneven ground and then protoforms to help reattach her panels. True to her word, little if anything has been done to repair them so far, leaving most of the tow truck's armor from the hips down ill-fitting scrap. "...I'm sorry for not stopping Motormaster," Overclock admits guiltily. Torque doesn't seem to mind if she's left without. If anything she can just piece the scrap together enough and bend it into shape to form something temporary until she can get back to the workshop. "It's alright.." Torque sighs softly, turning to let the giant femme get her back armor. "I heard Motormaster mention Megatron, so I'm guessing that's why you stopped. ..I told Megatron directly to his face that I wouldn't be part of his group and walked out, so it doesn't surprise me that he stopped you from helping me." A soft frown marrs her features while looking over the hand she first struck Motormaster with. Damn that mech was tough.. "I tried to avoid registration as long as I could, but.. Whatever, nothing I can do about it now. It's not like it'll change anything. I still don't believe in his cause.." Probably not the best thing to say in front of a Decepticon, but at this point Torque doesn't care. "You're name didn't come up actually," Overclock answers as she does her part to put the other femme back together. "According to Megatron registration as an Autobot is mandatory if you're still operating as an Autobot, so my only valid complaint was excessive force... hopefully Barricade can curb him in the future." The Insecticon growls under her breath and shakes her head. "Rust-brained scraplets like that shouldn't be wearing our mark, but... I haven't seen any plans to remove them since Zeta died. And Autobots like Prowl are just making it worse." "I dunno why he's even doing this.. Maybe it's revenge for what the Senate did to him." Torque mutters and gets to work warping leftover armor so it can cover what's left. "I don't blame him, but I still don't think this is the answer." She then snorts softly at Overclock's mention of Prowl. "Yeah, I dunno about him.. Not a fan myself. But even without him I don't see this situation getting any better. Still.. we can only hope for the best and try to do what we can to make sure this all doesn't spiral out of control." Once she's got on what armor she can, Torque looks out to Stanix a moment before turning to Overclock. "Even if you weren't gonna try to stop the registration altogether.. thank you for at least trying to stop Motormaster from outright killing me. I suppose I owe you one." She smirks weakly. "And I also think I should try and get back now.." It's gonna be a pain walking with her legs still hurting, and her altmode isn't an option without being fully repaired. ..Gonna take a while, but she'll make it. Overclock shrugs helplessly. "I wish I understood why everything is the way it is, but I don't have the power to change it. Back where, to Rodion?" The Insecticon asks, eyeing the condition of Torque's legs. "Everyone has the power to do something to change what's happening, even if it's only a little." Torque assures optimistically and nods. "Probably, yeah. I'll try and see if I can get a transport from Stanix, shouldn't be too hard.." She's sure someone is going that way. Or well, she hopes. "Anyway... thanks again, Overclock. Maybe we'll meet again. Hopefully under better circumstances. Oh, and tell your friends over there thanks as well." She thumbs to the roaches still woring on the Vehicon ball and nods, turning towards Stanix and steadily making her way along the edge of the acid wastes. It's going to hurt the whole way there, but Torque will endure and overcome. She always has. "I'm sure we will if nothing kills us off first." Overclock beastforms again and taps her tail against her back. "Riding back the way you came will be easier. Hop on, I have business in Polyhex anyway," she offers, trotting easily alongside the other femme. Torque wouldn't had a problem with walking back herself, but Overclock's sudden offer while coming up alongside her is... appreciated. "Never really ridden on someone before." She chuckles softly and nods, only hesitating a second until she makes up her mind and uses what strength remains in her arms to hoist herself up onto the beast's back. This is an entirely new experience for the femme, so she clings tight, not wanting to slip off, and settles in for the ride home. Overclock hardly shifts under the extra weight and looks back over her shoulder as Torque gets a grip on her. Her tail curls forward again and presses the other femme's hips and waist against her back, leaving the point hovering somewhere past her head. "Just hold on tight with your arms, I'll try to avoid sharp turns."